Sleeve press



Dec. .1 E1, e. R. BICKNELL ET AL SLEEVEPRESS Original Filed Feb. 7, 1941 FIG. '4

29 INVENTORS 37 GEORGE E. B/CKNELL 3o fez-o A. HE/DENFELDEP BY IW 34u HATTORNE s FIG-3 Patented Dec. 19, 1 944 George R. Bicknell, Antioch, and Fred A.Heidenfelder, Chicago, Ill., assignors'to TheAmei-ican Laundry Machinery Company, Norwood, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio.

Original application February '7, 1941, Serial No. 377,926. Divided and thisapplication October 9, 1943, Serial No. 505.618

,3 Claims. .(Cl.-38--21) This invention relates to improvements in a press particularly adapted for ironing the sleeves of mens shirts. The present application is a division of my prior application for a sleeve press filed February 7, 1941, SerialNo. 377,926.

An object of the present invention is to provide a press having a pair of beds or bucks adapted to receive simultaneously the two sleeves of a shirt from the shoulder to the cuff, laid fiat and of double thickness, together witha coacting head to press these sleeves simultaneously.

Another objectof the invention is to provide an improved sleeve press includingtwo similar beds extending horizontally and lying end to end, each buck being wider than the width of the usual shirt sleeve and being longer along one of its side edges than the other, so that sleeves of maximum and minimum length readily may be accommodated in the press by laying them respectively along the long and short edges of the beds, in each case with the cuffs just beyond the pressing area.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will appear from the accompanying drawing and specification and the essential features will be summarized in the claims.

In the drawing, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a pressing machine embodying our invention with control mechanism therefor shown diagrammatically; Fig. 2 is a fragmental frontelevation of'the press of Fig. 1, showing the beds and associated clamps; while Fig.3 is an enlarged fragmental view of a portion of Fig. 2 with parts broken away to more clearly show the operating parts. Fig. 4 is a small fragmental top plan view of the beds.

Since our invention is applicable to various types of pressing mechanism a very brief description of the mechanism of Fig. 1 will be sufficient. The pressing beds or bucks III are rigidly mounted on a pedestal II which is in turn mounted for vertical movement in the frame l2. A pin Ila extends downwardly in position to be engaged by a bell crank l3 operable by fluid.

motor M. A heated pressing head I5 complementary to the bucks I0 is mounted on head lever I6 and oscillatable by a toggle H which is actuated by fluid-motor l8. When it is desired toggle l'l reaches a strut-forming position it' opens valve 2| so as to supply fluid through normally open valve 22 to motor l4 causing the bucks to move upwardly against the pressing heads. To open the press, valve 22 is momentar'ily moved to cut off the flow of fluid to motor I4, whereupon a spring pressed plunger 23 and a spring 24 causes the pressing head to open.

The valve 25 is a tandem valve for opening another press and has no connection with the present invention.

The'bucks H] are preferably fiat or convex uipwardly as here shown and each adapted to receive the sleeve of a mans shirt 'from'the shoulder to the cull. Ordinarily each buck is longer tudinal alinement with sufficient spacing between them to permit the body of the shirt to lie below the top surface of thebucks l0 while the sleeves are being ironed. Clamping means to be presently described is provided atthe outer end of each buck and in operation the cuff of a: sleeve is first held beneath the clamp as indicated at 26 in Fig. 3, after which the sleeve is laid fiat along the topof the buck, stretching the same away from the clamped end so as to arrange the plackets of the sleeve facing upward y and in smooth condition for ironing. When both sleeves have been laid in this manner with the body of the shirt folded down between and below the bucks ID, the pressing head 15 is brought down and the press is sealed for asufllcient length of time to iron the sleeves.

It will be noted in Fig. 4 that in top plan view the bucks H] are in longitudinal alignmentbut their inner ends are inclined in a front to rear direction so as to provide a buck of diiferent length at the front and rear of the press. Also the longer portion of the right-hand buck is in longitudinal alignment with the longer portion of the left-hand buck, and similarly the shorter portions of the bucks are in alignment. The bucks ID are of a. width from front to rear which is wider than the sleeve of a shirt and the length of'the rearportion of the buck will accommodate a long sleeve from the cufi to the shoulder seam while the front portion of the buck will support.

a shorter sleeve from the cuff to the shoulder seam. In other words, the difference in lengthv between the front and rear portions of a buck is of the order of several inches so as to take care of the range of sleeve lengths normally encountered. It results from this construction that with the body of the shirt lying between the bucks I0 each sleeve may be laid along one of the bucks with the shoulder seam aligned along the inclined inner end edge of each buck and this may be done with a wide range of shirt sizes and sleeve lengths.

This eliminates the necessity of pressing into and distorting the body of the shirt during the sleeve pressing operation with the subsequent necessity for re-dampening of those body portions on that account. vAlso a simple rigid buck of fixed shape is nevertheless adapted for the pressing of shirt sleeves of different lengths.

The clamping means comprises two identical clamps located at the outer ends of the bucks I and one only will be described. The clamp 21 is pivotally mounted at 28 in a fixed bracket 35 connected with the pedestal ll. Below the pivot 28 a link 29 is pivotally connected with the clamp 21. This link passes freely through an opening in shaft 30 and the spring 3| is engaged between collar 32 and the head of the link so as to .normally urge the head of the link upwardly. This provides an over-center device so that the clamp 27 will remain either in the full line or dotdash line position of Fig. 3, after being so placed. A stop .pin 33 limits the movement of the clamp in its open position.

Preferably lpower means is provided for opening the clamp and in the present instance this comprises a small servomotor-M carried by the bracket 35. The servomotor has a piston 34a which engages the lower arm of a release lever 36 which is pivotally mounted inthe bracket 35 at the point 31. This lever has a nose 36a adapted to engage clamp 21 below pivot 28 when the clamp is in holding position and to move the clamp to open position when fluid is supplied to the servomotor. A stop pin 36b engages bracket 35 to limit movement of lever 36 in clampreleasing direction.

Preferably means is provided for opening the clamps,2l just before the press closes. For this purpose the conduit system 38 which supplies fluid to motor M for finally closing the press is provided with a branch 38a which conducts fluid through two branches 38b to the servomotors 34. Because the branch 38a is located nearer the supply valve 2|, and further, because servomotors 34, both singly and collectively, are of such small volumetric capacity as compared with the large pressure motor l4, and also on account of their lesser duty or load, pressure will build up in and move over the pistons of the servomotors 34 almost instantaneously and well before operation of motor I 4 is completed, thereby to move the clamps 21 away from their clamping position and toward their release position before the press is finally closed under full pressure.

In operation, the clamps 21 are moved manually by the operator from the full'line position of Fig. 3 to the dot-dash position thereof against the cuff 25 of each shirt sleeve when arranging the lay of the sleeves on the bucks ill. The operator then pinches the shoulder at the exact folding line while grasping the other seam at the arm pit and draws the seam taut across the buck. This not only facilitates making a rapid and smooth lay but indexes the sleeve crease to coincide with the shoulder crease which is later made during a folding operation. The press is then closed and just before the motor l4 moves the bucks into final engagement with the pressing head, fiuid is supplied through conduit 38a and conduits 38b simultaneously to the servomotors 34 causing lever 36 to move each clamp to the open position as shown in full lines in Figs. 2 and 3. It results from this construction that the cuff end of the sleeve is firmly held while the operator makes the lay of thesleeve and the cufi is held away from the heated pressing heads but the clamps are automatically released when the press is closed so that upon completion of the pressing or ironing operation the operator may remove the sleeves from the press without delay.

What we claim is:

1. A sleeve press comprising a pair of elongated beds secured on a base in end-to-end alinement and spaced apart endwise, each of said beds having a length to support ashirt sleeve and a width greater than the width of the sleeve, and said beds having their inner end edges inclined and converging crosswise from front to rear in directions opposite to each other, and so arranged as to provide two beds with space between them for the body of the shirt and with the sleeves, one on each bed, on alined portions thereof, whereby when the lay is made toward the rear of the beds, one length of sleeves may be supported on the beds, and when the lay is made toward the front of the beds, a different length of sleeves may be supported on the beds.

2. Apparatus for simultaneously pressing the sleeves of shirts of varying sizes, comprising a frame, two similar work supporting :beds having long parallel side edges and shorter end edges simultaneously the sleeves of a shirt draped on said beds with the shirt body depending in the space between them and with its cuffs depending at the remote ends of the beds and therefore out of the range of contact with the head.

3. Apparatus for simultaneously pressing the sleeves of shirts of varying sizes, comprising a frame, two similar work supporting beds having long parallel side edges and shorter end edges mounted on said frame in fixed end-to-end relation with their adjacent end edges spaced apart, each bed having a work supporting surface which is wider than the width and is approximately the length of the maximum length shirt sleeve from cuff to shoulder seam, and a single pressing head movable on said frame and having a pressing surface arranged to engage simultaneously the sleeves of a shirt draped on said beds with the shirt body depending in the space between them and with its cuffs depending at the remote ends of the beds and therefore out of the range of contact with the head, the adjacent spaced end edges of the beds being inclined crosswise of their length and reversely to each other to correspond with the diagonal disposition of the shoulder seams when the sleeves are draped on the beds, thereby preventing premature ironing of shirt body parts beyond the shoulder seams.

GEORGE R. BICKNELL. FRED A. HEIDENFELDER. 

